Q: Can my childs mother bring up something that happened 3 years ago before we were both granted joint custody of son?
March of last year my son was taken away for 8 months awaiting court date. In the end we were both granted joint custody of our son week on week off in march. We have 2 children here not including him. The other 8 year old same age does very well at school grades and behavior... 6 months later shes taking me back to court claiming that my son has been left alone to "fend for himself" and she is bringing up something that happened 3 years ago before our last court date. Every week hes with his mother he gets in trouble once or twice a week. Hes been in trouble twice one week at beginning of school year and has done well ever since on our weeks... Can she bring up something before last court date? She asked the court for temporary custody till next court date 2 months away.. My fiance and my other son would be heartbroken if our other son was only here every other weekend.. and the mother already took him out of our other kids school for "her" convenience
A: The short answer is no. Each time you go to court seeking a modification of an order you must prove a material change in circumstances. That material change has to have occurred since the last time you were in court. You can't just hold something in your pocket wait a couple of months and then go back to court again. Any evidence that dates back before the last time there was an Order entered in your case should be excluded.
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